Safe and Sound
by Resonae
Summary: Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be all right, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound. One-shot, songfic, Tony/Clint. Mentions of torture, rape. Character death.


**A/N:** I own nothing. Not the characters and not the song. The song is Taylor Swift's Safe and Sound featuring the Civil War, the OST to Hunger Games. There are mentions of torture and rape and character death, but nothing horrendous. Listen to it while you read :3

* * *

Everything hurts. Tony isn't trained as a soldier, he's not trained as an assassin, he's not trained as a secret agent to some incredibly secret government agency. Without his suit, he's just a well-muscled guy with incredible brains. So they don't have to do much to him to torture him. They whip him a few times, and it leaves bleeding and aching.

But that's not the worst of it. The worst of it is that they torture his fellow prisoner much more than they torture him, because even if Tony is a genius, he doesn't know all the government secrets. Clint knows them, because he's a high-ranking senior agent of SHIELD, and even if he doesn't know everything, he knows enough.

Their captors do things to Clint that makes Tony nauseous and vomit onto the floor when he's forced to watch. Clint doesn't make a sound as they burn him with tongs, pass electric current through him, or make him kneel on broken glass. He doesn't cry when they rape him violently, and when they're done tearing his body inside and out and they're thrown in their cell, he comes quietly to Tony's side and curls up as best as he can.

Tony spends the night pinching glass shards from bleeding knees and splinters from the soles of torn feet. He cuts himself sometimes when he does, but by the end his hands are covered in Clint's blood, not his own.

Today is one of the days when they decide to rape Clint. Clint closes his eyes and makes no movement or sound as they pound into him, two, three men at a time, tearing half-healed tendons and muscles and flesh and sending blood in streams down lean thighs. Tony tries to close his eyes and turn away, but he's forced to watch not because there's a knife at his own throat, but because the men press a blade into Clint's throat and a thin line of blood appears.

It's been 15 days since they were captured. Tony doesn't know when rescue is coming. He doesn't know if it's coming at all. They bring out a white-hot tong and Clint bites his lip so blood scrolls down his chin, but makes no noise as the metal burns a dark A into his left hip, a mockery of their own symbol.

That night, as they're thrown back into their cell, Clint sings softly as he rests his head on Tony's lap. Tony strokes his hair lightly, feeling soft blonde hair matted with blood and sweat and dirt under his fingers. He has no glass or wooden shards to pull out from Clint this time, but it makes him feel worse. There is nothing he can do tonight to ease Clint's pain, even a little. So he justs listens to Clint sing.

_I remember tears streaming down your face_  
_When I said, I'll never let you go  
When all those shadows almost killed your light_

His voice is soft, so quiet that even Tony can barely hear the voice. Clint sings beautifully, and when he's done singing, he smiles and tells Tony that they'll make it out alive. Tony grips Clint's hand, holds it firmly and doesn't let go even after Clint's breathing evens out.

The next day, they cuff Clint's arms up onto the wall and yank Tony forward. His arm is yanked away from him and he feels the prick of a needle at his left basilic vein. They let his arm go and he tries to struggle, but a wave of heat hits him and he gasps. His eyes meet Clint's, and there is understanding and sadness and acceptance written in the blue eyes.

Tony understands what it is. It's an aphrodisiac, and they bring him close to Clint. Clint whispers to him not to hold back, that it's all right. Tony braces himself against it as they laugh and mock, but in the end he loses his battle of will.

When he comes to, it's back in his cell, with Clint gently holding Tony's head in his lap, stroking his cheek. Clint is singing, the same song as the night before, but his voice is trembling. A drop of cold liquid hits Tony's cheek and Tony's too scared to look up.

He doesn't want to see Clint cry. He closes his eyes again and listens to Clint's soft voice and clings desperately onto the hand that's touching his cheek.

_I remember you said,  
Don't leave me here alone_  
_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight  
_

The same thing happens for the next few days, and every time it cracks Clint a little more. Tony finally musters the strength to sit up one day and he holds Clint as Clint cries brokenly. Tony holds him and tells him sorry over and over and over again, not only because he's the one hurting Clint so badly this time, but because he was too much of a coward to hold Clint to ease his pain. Clint cries and sings, sings so quietly between hiccups of sobs that Tony barely hears.

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound  
_

They wrench Clint from Tony's struggling arms, but this time they sit Clint down in a chair, force his lips open and shove a grenade inside, and tape his mouth shut. Clint doesn't look scared, but Tony is scared like he's never been scared before as they throw a remote down at his feet. There's no question as to what the red button in the middle does and he stares at it.

They give him a choice. Either he takes the tong from the burning embers and etch his entire, full name into Clint's inner thigh, or they press the button and detonate the bomb. Tony takes the tong and Clint doesn't look at him. A-n-t-h-o-n-y-E-d-w-a-r-d-S-t-a-r-k.

He tries to ignore the shaking of the thigh he was holding as he pressed each letter into it. He tries to ignore the acrid smell of singed flesh. But he can't ignore the hot drops of tears that fell onto him. The tongs are wrenched from him as he finishes the 'K' and they rip the tape off Clint's lips. The bomb falls from Clint's lips and Tony realizes Clint is unconscious.

He's not below begging his captors to let him carry Clint to the cell. They don't let him and he kicks and struggles the whole way. Clint is thrown to the bottom of the cell. That night Clint doesn't wake up to sing to Tony. Tony has never heard the song before, but he's heard Clint sing it enough times, so he holds Clint tightly and sings to Clint.

_Don't you dare look out your window  
Darling, everything's on fire_  
_The war outside our door keeps raging on  
_

They make him write I-r-o-n-M-a-n into Clint's other thigh. By the end of it Clint has vomited onto the floor next to them. The letters on the other thigh are an angry red. They're infected, Tony knows, as he drops the tong at the last letter, and there is nothing Tony can do.

Tony sings to Clint that night again, and Clint wakes in waves. He has hallucinations, no doubt because of his high fever, and Tony holds him tightly as Clint cries and begs. There are mentions of Loki, and of Barney and Buck and Jacques. Tony recognizes the names as ones he'd seen in Clint's files, but he can do nothing. Singing seems to calm Clint, so he does, the same song Clint has been singing to him, the same song as the night before.

_Hold onto this lullaby_  
_Even when music's gone  
Gone_

Their captors then take Clint away from him. Tony screams and yells and punches walls and bars but they take him away. Tony's left alone and they give him clean food and water and even give him clean clothes and a blanket, and they move him into a clean room.

Tony throws punches and yells in his steel prison, but they pay him no heed. He falls against one of the walls and cries worse than he's ever cried in his life. He feels broken, empty and worry claws at him enough to make him nauseous and desperate. He begs his captors. Begs them to let him see Clint. None of them pay him any attention.

There's a clock that's out of reach for him but clearly in his sight. He knows it's there on purpose. It's exactly forty hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds until the doors open and a body is dumped in his new prison.

Clint is soaking wet, his lips are blue and his teeth won't stop chattering even in his unconscious state. He's freezing to the touch. And the only thing Tony can do is hold him, hold him tight and sing to him. When Clint wakes up, he holds onto Tony but there is no strength in Clint's grip. He sleeps, and no one bothers them. Tony realizes that Clint is dying. He doesn't know what they did to Clint, but Clint won't make it.

And he can do nothing but hold Clint. Clint sings softly, his voice soft and weak but still as beautiful as it was the first day. When Clint is done, Tony holds him tighter. We're not going to make it, he tells Clint. Clint smiles sadly and tells him he knows. He just weaves their fingers together and Tony presses his lips onto Clint's forehead. The skin feels soft, and for a moment it's like Clint's not dying at all. Clint asks Tony to sing, so Tony does.

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound  
_

Tony thinks it's almost ironic, the song. He asks Clint what song it is. Clint tells him it's a song he's heard on Natasha's radio once. He doesn't really know the title, but knows it's by Taylor Swift. The singer surprises Tony, mostly because he's never really connected Clint with mainstream pop music. He doesn't make a comment about it, mostly because it doesn't matter. He holds Clint.

Poison, Clint supplies Tony. Tony would have guessed. He takes Clint's hand, pale and cold, and uses the fork they gave him to cut Clint. Clint doesn't even flinch as Tony takes the bleeding hand into his lips and suckles on it. Clint calls him dumb, but he doesn't resist. Or maybe he doesn't have the strength to resist. Tony doesn't know.

Outside, he hears the familiar roar of a certain green monster and the battle cry of a demi-god he's come to known so well. They're late, but they are here. If they were maybe an hour earlier, he figures they would have rescued at least him. But he has no regrets. Clint's eyes close and his head rests against Tony's arc reactor. The blue glow lights his face up and he looks almost holy. Tony can see him breathe, fainter and slower, until it stops, and Clint is dead against his chest, unmoving and cold.

Tony feels the poison spreading through his own veins and feels the ice spread. He looks up as the door crashes open and Steve is there. Steve doesn't move as Tony sings softly, his hands stroking Clint's blonde hair. Steve watches and he understands. He doesn't come close and he just watches as Tony sings.

_Just close your eyes_  
_You'll be alright_

When Tony is done, he brings Clint closer and holds him tight. Natasha, Thor and Hulk are now at the door. Thor looks sullen, the Hulk is quiet, and Natasha comes up to him. She makes him swear that he'll take care of Clint, wherever they're going. He promises and tugs Clint even closer to him.

There is a tunnel, and Tony almost laughs at the ridiculousness of it all. It's dark, and there's a big white light at the end. He walks toward it because he has nowhere else to walk to, after all. But there's someone waiting for him near it, squatting on the floor with a big grin on his face. "Took you long enough." Clint says, and he stands to offer Tony a hand.

Tony stares at the hand for a moment before taking it and lacing their fingers together. "Natasha made me promise I'd take care of you wherever we were going. You're allowed to wait for people here?"

"Well, no one around to tell me I can't." Clint grins, and leans up a little to press his lips to Tony's. They grin at each other for a bit. "Even if they did, I've got a bit of an authority problem."

Tony laughs and squeezes Clint's hand firmly. "You ready for this?" Tony tugs Clint along. "Don't let go." Clint clutches on a little tighter. As they walk, Clint sings softly, leaning up against Tony so Tony can just barely hear the words of the song.

_Come morning light,_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound_

* * *

I usually steer away from songfics cause I have no idea how to write them well and how to incorporate the song into the story... I hope it turned out okay.


End file.
